Status Code: 196

Client backup was not attempted because backup window closed

A Status Code 196 will occur when a backup job is in a queued state at the time the backup window for that job closes. If a job is active by the time the window closes, that active job will still run to completion. However, queued jobs will fail with status 196.

Status Code 196

Is Backup performance slower than expected on the streams that complete?

YES

General Backup Performance Issue Section 2

NO Enable/view the following logs : Unix: Syslog and Admin Messages Windows: Event Viewer System and application logs Also, view the Problems Report in the Administration Console .

Are tape drives up? YES Policy or Storage Unit Configuration Issue Section 1

NO

Drive Communication Issues Section 3

Status Code: 196 Client backup was not attempted because the backup window closed

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Table of Contents
Managing Backup Policies and Storage Units ..................................................................................... 3 1.1 Policy Configuration..................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.1 Maximum Jobs per policy and client ................................................................................... 3 1.1.2 Additional Features/Options................................................................................................ 3 2 Optimizing Backup Performance.......................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Identify Bottlenecks...................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Multiplexing .................................................................................................................................. 4 2.2.1 Multiplexing - Planning ........................................................................................................ 5 2.2.2 Multiplexing - Implementation ............................................................................................. 5 2.3 Eliminate Unnecessary Logging .................................................................................................. 5 3 Verify hardware availability................................................................................................................... 6 4 Links ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 1

Status Code: 196 Client backup was not attempted because the backup window closed

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1 Managing Backup Policies and Storage Units

Effective policy management plays a major roll in completing backups within the time window. The first thing to consider is the backup window itself. Determine if the current backup window is reasonable for the volume of data being backed up and the available storage resources.

1.1 Policy Configuration

1.1.1 Maximum Jobs per policy and client
Policies have a setting for Limit jobs per policy. Ensure that this setting is not overly constrictive of jobs that could be running. If the maximum number of jobs is reached on the policy, additional jobs will queue. If this setting is too low, queued jobs may result in a status 196 despite the fact that they have the resources to run. Within Global Attributes under the Master Servers host properties, there is a setting for the Maximum jobs per client. This has an effect similar to that of Limit jobs per policy, but on the client level. If multiple data streams are being used, ensure that this setting is not constricting jobs that could be running. If the maximum number of jobs is reached on the client, additional jobs will queue.

1.1.2 Additional Features/Options

Please take note of the following features, as they are designed to use the backup window more efficiently: Synthetic backups: Synthetic backups allow logical full and cumulative backups to take place without actually transferring data from the client. This can improve performance by providing the restore benefits of Full or Cumulative Incremental backups, without backing up redundant data during the backup window. Advanced Client backups: Advanced client backup methods such as Flashbackup involve snapshot backups. This can improve performance by backing up the raw data, which eliminates the overhead of querying every file on the file system level. Disk staging: Disk staging allows the staging of data to disk before ultimately moving to the final storage unit. This can reduce the required backup window by deferring the move from disk to tape until all client data is collected and the backup window closes.

Status Code: 196 Client backup was not attempted because the backup window closed

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2 Optimizing Backup Performance

Another method of avoiding the 196 error is to improve overall backup speed in order to complete all jobs within the designated window. This section offers some general guidelines for optimizing performance.

2.1 Identify Bottlenecks

Identifying where bottlenecks in the data flow exist is essential to improving performance. The following are some common methods of doing so: 1. Are there any common factors between poorly performing clients, such as OS platform, Network, or the Media Server being used? 2. Perform a backup to a disk storage unit for a poorly performing client. Is performance significantly improved? This can eliminate a tape storage unit and its data path as being part of the problem. 3. Determine whether the media server experiences performance issues during a local backup (backing up locally attached storage). This can eliminate the network and client as the primary bottlenecks. 4. Perform a backup to null on a poorly performing client. This allows the NetBackup client to process the data without actually sending it to the media server for backup. This can isolate the client itself as the bottleneck. See NetBackup technote 242918 for information on executing and analyzing this test. The results of tests such as these can assist in identifying areas to investigate further. Dependant on the results, some next steps may include: Checking for optimum Network duplex settings. Verifying the OEM recommended driver and firmware versions are installed for tape hardware. Adding additional hardware to satisfy the backup requirements (tape devices, SCSI / fiber equipment, etc.) Enabling the NetBackup multiplexing feature. Adjusting tape buffer sizes.

2.2 Multiplexing
Multiplexing is a NetBackup feature allowing multiple streams of data to be written to a tape device concurrently. These streams may come from a variety of clients, even of dissimilar platforms. At times, a tape device may be capable of writing much faster than a single client can present data to the media server. In this scenario, multiplexing can significantly improve overall performance. Implementation of multiplexing should always be carefully considered. An environment which unnecessarily uses multiplexing may see no benefits or even diminished backup performance, and will always see a negative impact on restore performance. See the Multiplexing section of your NetBackup System Administrators Guide (reference Multiplexing in the index) for a full explanation on the multiplexing feature.
Status Code: 196 Client backup was not attempted because the backup window closed

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2.2.1 Multiplexing - Planning

Use the results from section 2.1 (Identifying Bottlenecks) to help determine if multiplexing is appropriate. For example, if it is found that there are no problems within the Media Server or the network, but the client processing is very slow, multiplexing may help significantly. Testing of both backup and restore performance should be done to determine the ideal multiplexing level for an environment. As an example, a value of three (at the storage unit level) is often found to be a good trade off between backup and restore performance.

2.2.2 Multiplexing - Implementation

Multiplexing is configured in three places: Within the Storage Unit, under Maximum multiplexing per drive. Within the Policy Attributes through the Allow Multiple Data Streams checkbox. Within the Policys Schedule in the Media Multiplexing setting.

As mentioned above, the following configuration options might also be relevant when configuring multiplexing: Limit jobs per policy (set in Policy Attributes) Maximum Jobs per Client (set in Global Attributes) Maximum Data Streams (set in Client Attributes within the Master Servers host properties)

See the VERITAS NetBackup System Administrators Guide for further information on multiplexing configuration.

2.3 Eliminate Unnecessary Logging

When not actively troubleshooting a NetBackup issue, debug logs should be disabled or kept at a very low verbose level. NetBackup debug logs can grow extremely large, and consume gigabytes of space under certain configurations. Verbose logging can also have a negative impact on performance. The bpdbm log particularly has a significant impact on resources, even when at a verbose level of 0. See the NetBackup System Administrators guide for information on creating and disabling logging, as well as manipulating the verbose level.

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3 Verify hardware availability

Hardware problems (tape drive or robotic problems) can result in down tape drives. This means that NetBackup has fewer resources with which to complete backups. Use the NetBackup Device Monitor GUI to view the status of all the tape drives. If there are any down tape drives, examine the operating systems error logs to determine why the drives were downed. Running the Problems Report in the NetBackup Administration console may also assist in diagnosis. Additionally, it may be necessary to reconfigure, or verify the configuration of devices. See the Media Manager and Device Configuration Guides for more information on how to proceed with this.

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Status Code: 196 Client backup was not attempted because the backup window closed

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